Lord of the Flies set in a toxic post apocalyptic NYC. The first section where they twitch their heads, carrying that one dancer who crawls like a deformed creature. NYC dance on the flexin tip. Bone breakin. Next Level Squad. Video by Yak Films.

If you haven’t been following the tweet tweets, you might have missed that we’ve been working at WFMU with DJ /ruprture on his Mudd Up! show. The best thing about it is we get to pick a lot of music to play on there. And it reaches all of NYC, its suburbs, and Philly – along with the rest of the world on the station’s forward thinking web site. (What other radio site archives tell you what song is currently playing, and lets you skip to individual songs?) We focus on music with myopic LFO tweeks, endless guitar variants, and a pedantic definition of hip hop. Lol, nah but for real, you’ll find a broad mix of forward thinking electronic beats, regional sounds from around the world, hip hop, dancehall and more. Anyway, this week most of the selections were dug up by Steyels Waer, so below is a stream and here’s a download. (GIF via uchronic.)

Love Joys – One Draw
The Present – Fruity Pedals
Gucci Gucci – (Brey’s I Dead Your Vocals On a Quick One instrumental)
Le1f – Bubbles [Greedhead]
DJ Roc – Flex Juke Mix [exclusive!]
Ness Lee – I am the South ft Coco Jones & Abyss
RL Grime – Treadstone (LOL Boys remix) [WEDIDIT Collective] (vinyl only)
Trilla – Call of Duty
Nazareth – Nebulae (Zak-Matic remix)
Cham – Turn Up (Slackaz Remix)
Le Super Borgou De Parakou – Gandigui
Archie Pelago – Saturn V [exclusive!]
Salieu Suso – Kuruntu Kallafa [Lyrichord World]
Chicha Libre – La Plata (En Mi Carrito de Lata)
Love Joys – All I Can Say

Steyels Waer Presents: The Clent Origin Story. Watch for the repressing of “Third World” soon come.

Earl‘s sound comes from a place of dialogue where the dancer and DJ push and inspire each other, building off their counterpoint’s energy. His ideas unfold in the local vocabulary of blazing tempos and vintage drum machines, one with a unique flair that the rest of the world now recognizes and is beginning to understand. More informed journalism is being produced, key figures are touring overseas, and an ever growing selection of tracks are appearing online. These artists are obviously being appreciated in contexts beyond that intense cluster of creativity in Chicago. Even listeners who have no idea what a Dribble is can enjoy its raw energy, its attention to switch ups that surprise within a natural rhythm, its ability to balance dissonant energies, and its individuality expressed through regional identity. Earl’s specialties add more to all those qualities, like in the below track – alongside Frost – with its emotive, nuanced atmosphere, detailed synth work, and interweaving melodies. Granted there’s lots of misconceptions about footwork and juke (riding toms do not make a track footwork), but it’s tracks like this that make it easy to see where the international appeal comes from. The cut is from his recent, self-released album, Above & Beyond, which he’s selling on Bandcamp. If you want even more tracks, he’s selling a ZIP of 100 unreleased and brand new tracks for $40, which you can cop by hitting him up on Twitter or Facebook. (GIF by Surrogate Self.)

Tragedy is personal and global. Worse for some, painful for all. An insistent presence. Finding the words to express it is a sensitive, slow learning process. But once that hill is visible it can be scaled. The sun peers from lapses in a vast canopy of gray. On its peak, more columns of lights are visible beyond. Refined senses soak pleasure from subtleties – desert plants storing energy. Oases of slivered of warmth brew life from survival. (Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – a1)

A kora drenched in kaleidoscopic energy glitters like a canopy of stars above the forestry. It evokes a thankfulness for the good fortune of the now (or then), yet is filled with anticipation for what’s next. Woody drums carve a rhythmic tale sturdy as oak while vibrations in the soft fermenting soil foretell epic chapters ahead. When the otherworldly light hits at 2:40 with a touch of trepidation for the unknown, everything makes sense and justice fills the air as the mind moves on. But what is beyond, we will never know, and the source of this wisdom imparted reveals itself in its Earthly form for the final seconds. Arca is a Venezuelan artist living in New York. This track is slated to be released on vinyl by Uno NYC, who recently dropped a free EP of his. (Photo by Heikki Leis.)

When it comes to video projection installations, AntiVJ are pretty far ahead of most of the world with only a few exceptions. They make giant sculptures come to life, allow viewers to enter inside columns of shifting white light, conjure holographic screens of color, and more. Of course, they’re a European collective, leaving most Americans to gawk at internet videos or maybe once a year catch some corporatized version of similar engineering. However, the group’s director, Joanie Lemercier, is here in New York right now. He’s responsible for the video above, which features a room-sized 3D topographical map that dips and glows with the depth of a master painting come to life. Currently, one of his works is on display in Brooklyn at the Muriel Guepin Gallery until April 15th. You can also catch him speaking next Thursday in Chelsea at Eyebeam.

Come thru!
(Original art by M.V.A.T)

At first glance, a hook about cartoons and cereal with lyrics referencing Wile E. Coyote and samples of Bugs Bunny all sounds like adolescent and nostalgic grasps at a childhood never fully outgrown. But given a chance, a description of a trouble-soaked youth unveils itself on this cut. Lamar‘s attempt to rediscover the warm glow of the company of Saturday morning cartoons is as distorted as efforts by candy ravers with teddy bear backpacks and pacifiers. Family members caught up in crime and bullets piercing his window mixed with pangs of childhood comfort make for a murky milk stained by conflicting emotions. It all results in a complex and unique track. (Art by Noa Emberson)

In 1997 people still watched public access television, cassette tapes weren’t dead yet, and reggaeton hadn’t blown up in New York. But the Boricua Guerrero EP would help to change that last point. It was one of the first reggaeton releases out of New York to find success. As was the case with most NYC reggaeton back then, it had heavy hip hop influences and roots in Bushwick. One half of the EP was hip hop and the other reggaeton. And Elias, who ran the label of the same name, was staying in Bushwick. (Eventually, he would form the White Lion label, which brought Calle 13 to fame.) The EP was made by Nico Canada and DJ Playero, one of the pioneers in Puerto Rico. This particular track features Jahdan, who had attracted their attention after appearing on Smif-N-Wessun‘s “Sound Bwoy Bureill“. The riddim was produced by Select. In 2012 we use Youtube over TV, MP3s instead of tapes, and dembow from Uptown is bigger than Bushwick reggaeton. But Jahdan is still blessing forward thinking beats. (GIF via Gifmovie.)